Review: BATMAN: Arkham City The Comic

So…have your thumbs been itching to play the sequel to critically acclaimed and fan favorite video game BATMAN:Arkham Asylum,BATMAN:Arkham City? Well,sorry junior dark knight detectives… you’re gonna have to wait until the fall of this year.

But I do have some good news for you…DC Comics has just launched the first issue of a five part mini-series based on the video game.Written by Batman guru,Paul Dini(who also wrote the story for the video game) and drawn by the video game conceptual artist Carlos D’Anda.

“Arkham City’ takes place one year after the original game.The story deals with former Asylum warden, Quincy Sharp who’s now the mayor of Gotham City.He has decided to close the asylum doors and branch out to establish “Arkham City”,the new maximum security “home” for all of Gotham’s thugs ,gangsters and criminally insane.

This city within a city is set within heavily fortified walls,where the inmates can roam free as long as they don’t try to escape.And who has Sharp appointed to run this urban prison…none other than Dr. Hugo Strange,a man who knows that Bruce Wayne is Batman.

Intrigued?…I am! This mini-series gives the reader a back story that will make game play even more intense.Having insight to some of the characters that will show up the new game make for a more fulfilling gaming experience.The first issue lacks in action set pieces.But knowing that this first issue ,Dini is just laying the ground work for a more compelling story.D’anda’s art only adds to the intriging storytelling.I cannot wait for the next issue.Also for you lovers of digital comics the mini-series is also available for download.

Gary was born in the City of Angels and raised on a healthy diet of Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, Night Gallery, The Hammer Horror Films, and his favorite, Universal Studio’s Monster Movies.

But alas, it was a film that was released in the winter of 1973, where his love and perception of all things Horror would personally change him forever. William Friedkin’s, The Exorcist was that film. To this day The Exorcist still gives him the heebie-jeebies.

Presently, his affinity for the horror genre has broadened and spans the globe. His love and appreciation for director’s Takashi Miike (Audition) and Chan-Wook Park (Old Boy) from the Far East to Sweden’s Tomas Alfredson (Let The Right One In) to his favorite, Mexico’s very own Guillermo del Toro (Cronos, Devil’s Backbone, Pan’s Labyrinth).

In his spare time he likes to exercise and/or exorcise his inner demons. The little devil still resides in the City of Angels, in a suburb founded by Puritans (!) with his lovely and patient wife, his two equally lovely and patient children, two hounds and his pet Cthulhu.